This invention relates to a method and system for retail checkout of purchased articles, and more particularly relates to such a method and system in which such articles are selected by customers from a display of samples of such articles, automatically retrieved from a product stocking area, placed in an article accumulating area, and provided to the customers after pre-check and finalizing check-out operations.
Efficient utilization of space, protection against shoplifting, avoidance of congestion arising from use of grocery carts in narrow aisles, rapid customer service and reduction in the number of required employees are all concerns that are relevant with respect to supermarkets and other types of self-service retail establishments. The conventional arrangement of a supermarket, in which customers move through aisles between shelves stocked with articles selected by customers and conveyed by grocery carts to checkout stations, provides problems in many of these areas. Arrangements have previously been suggested in which customers select articles for purchase from displayed samples, and the selected articles are taken from a supply area and provided to the customer. Various systems have been proposed to facilitate customer selection of articles, communication of the selection to the supply area and transportation of selected articles from the supply area to a station for delivery to the customer and receipt of payment from the customer. Representative systems are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,023,851, to Bruno V. Stiller; U.S. Pat. No. 3,532,184, to Morton Blake; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,345, to Harry Siridis.